Lars Ulrich Admits He Didn’t Know Metallica Considered Firing Him

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has had to develop a pretty thick skin over the years — and he had it back on display during a recent interview with Metal Forces, in which he discussed the band's secret, short-lived plan to fire him in the '80s.

"It's certainly not something that I was ever aware of," Ulrich admitted. "But I can tell you that there's been other times as we've cruised along where there's been some friction with this band member or that band member, and where things were a little awkward with this particular guy, or whatever."

Although the legend of Ulrich's potential dismissal is particularly well-known, as he went on to point out, you can't have a band for 35 years without various members coming close to getting the axe. "There were times when [guitarist] Kirk [Hammett] was kinda floating out there, and there were a couple of times when [singer and guitarist] [James] Hetfield was kinda floating out there, and there were different times when I was kinda floating out there, so it was very possible," he continued. Referring to comments made by Anthrax's Scott Ian regarding the situation, he added, "I'm sure Scott Ian knows something that I don't, and I'm fine with that. It was just not something that was ever on my radar."

It's easy to imagine that this story's persistence could create some awkwardness between band members, but just as Ulrich insisted he wasn't aware of his possible ouster from Metallica, he said he keeps himself willfully ignorant of anything his bandmates — or anyone else — tells the press.

"I really don't read interviews," he said. "I don't know, the whole thing of 20 years ago sitting there and following what [Dave] Mustaine is saying this week in Kerrang! and what Bruce Dickinson is thinking about this, and all that kinda stuff — I just don't follow one paragraph of it anymore."